More Exploration

This entry was originally written in May 2016

It was Sunday morning and after gaining confidence from the flight at Marina Putrajaya the evening before, I decided to return to Putrajaya, but this time around, I picked a more conventional spot. It was Dataran Putra, right in front of the Prime Minister's Department and the famous Masjid Putra.

I arrived there quite early, when the sun was still low and hidden behind the hills and low clouds. I took the time to plan my route. I realised that to get some good light for the Masjid, I had to approach from the opposite site, far too close to the Prime Minister's Office.

So, I decided to take the high route and flew high to get a clear connection to the drone while taking the footage. It worked out great in the end and when the sun finally came out, the light was brilliant.

Apart from the Masjid, the actual Dataran Putra - basically a roundabout - was also a vista. I also flew across the lake to look at Istana Darul Ehsan as well as Jambatan Seri Wawasan.

The Istana was a gift from the Federal Government to the Sultan of Selangor for giving away the land - Putrajaya - to the Federal Government to build this administrative centre. It was clear from the aerial view how well the whole township was planned. There were still plenty of space and there were areas which were still not fully developed. The public transport over there was still a problem with the initially-proposed tram system not coming into fruition.

What did I learn from this outing? Basically how to plan for the routes for great light when flying the drones. Angle was everything as you were at the mercy of available light when you take photos of such buildings.

Halloween at BSC

It was that time of the year again and certainly around Bangsar, there were plenty of expats family playing along with the celebration.

It was all in great fun although there were parties who took themselves too seriously at times and went on to ben this kind of thing. It was up to them, but certainly quite interesting to browse around at BSC ….

Another Combo

The sunshine this morning was amazing again. And before heading out to work, I decided to dust off another lens of mine, the Zeiss Distagon FE 1.4/35 for my Alpha 7R mk2. I was using my Summicron-M on Monday. I decided to have a change. I missed how easy it was to use a setup with built-in autofocus ….

After around 40 shots, I think I might just take combo out the next time I was in town. A bit heavier than my usual setup, but judging from the results, it may be some extra weight worth carrying.

The pop that you would normally see with a Zeiss lens was definitely there. The shimmering morning light certainly brought out the luminous colour of everything I snapped. Sharpness? No question about that …. So watch this space!

CzipLee has Reopened

CzipLee is the go to shop for everything stationery in my neck of the woods. They had a great selection of stuff and you could get almost anything there. They had just relocated last year to their current location and the news that the shop caught fire during the Chinese New Year break earlier this year came as a surprise to everyone.

The place had been under renovation for a few months and in July the newly refurbished outlet was opened. We only knew about it last week when we came to visit. Certainly was an upgrade to the shop before and it was now occupying three floors with a dedicated print shop.

Anita was looking for some pencils for the boys when we decided to have a look around and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the new place looked. The middle floor were now more or less a paper shop with plenty of selection to browse through.

Definitely worth a look the next time you were in Telawi area ….

Taste and Testing

We had been frequenting China Treasures at Some Darby Convention Centre quite a lot in the last few years. They made some of the best Halal dim sum in town, and being affiliated to Some Darby, I was entitled to some discount every time I dine there.

I even know the manager and the staffs pretty well by now and during our lunch last Monday, the Manager, Eric asked if we could come for a food tasting dinner for the upcoming Chinese New Year buffet. The dinner was held next door to the restaurant in the main ballroom at the convention centre and I must say there were a lot more people than I expected.

In the end, it was a seven course affair and the dessert was only served close to 9 pm. We got more than we bargained for.

They opened more than 40 tables, enough to fill the whole of the hall. I was seated with a colleague from SJMC and a banker with his wife. We actually enjoyed the company despite the fact that I had to disappear for an hour during the dinner to attend to a patient at the hospital.

It started off with yee sang and soup - which Anita had to leave for me as I was still at the hospital - then the main courses - which were garoupa and prawns - followed by rice in the end. I enjoyed the company more than the food however, but it was different with Anita as she was starving at the start of dinner.

The yee sang was made in house, and you could taste how fresh and well-preserved the ingredients were. It came with thinly sliced raw salmon. The highlight I must say was the back chicken double-boiled soup. It was delicious. The garoupa was fine but I was full by then.

The dessert was yam in a sack of pastry, deep fried to look like a money pouch. Very sweet and really cleansed the palate at the end of the meal. They had an early bird promotion for a table of 10, and based on the price, it was well worth it. No din sum though …..